Phasmatis
by Roschelle Templar
Summary: Laguna invites Squall and his friends to a costume party for Halloween, but, a night of fun quickly turns into a fight to survive when an ancient evil begins to re-awaken. As they fight to stop it, Squall and the others are also confronted by the ghosts from their pasts.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: New story, just in time for Halloween. :) This will be shorter overall and will hopefully have much faster updates so I can finish it and get back to my other fics. Still, I hope my readers enjoy a little ghost story in celebration of the holiday.  
The timeline for this story is three years after the conclusion of the game. Also it could be considered in the same universe as my _Revisions_ fic, but that one will not need to be read to understand this.

I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its characters.

Thank you to everyone who reads/follows/favorites/reviews this. It is always appreciated.

Chapter One

After three years of working as the commander of Balamb Garden, Squall Leonhart had learned a lot about facing difficult situations.

Headmaster Cid's promotion of him to commander was thought to be temporary, but after Ultimecia's defeat, it was decided that he would continue to run the major operations of Garden with Cid and Edea mainly acting in administrative and advisory roles. Thus, Squall spent less time in the field and more time dealing with world leaders and wealthy industrialists. All of whom continued to hire SeeD for a variety of assignments. When he did get out into the field, Squall often took on complicated, dangerous assignments as a way to continue to test his mettle and improve his combat and strategic abilities. As a result of all this, Squall had become adept at handling precarious, high-pressure work and tolerant of dealing with arrogant, pontificating bureaucrats.

But none of that training or experience was able to fully prepare him for the moment when Laguna Loire, the president of Esthar and his father, invited him to a Halloween party.

"_Come on, Squall. I'll need a security detail and I'm getting sick of traveling with Palace guards all the time. Besides, it's a costume party, so you know it's going to be a blast. It'll be a super easy job and I have the means to pay you and your team plenty to attend. So, how about it?"_

Squall let out a long sigh as he tugged at the material of the outfit he was wearing. This wasn't the first time that Laguna had managed to hire SeeD for small, odd jobs partially as an excuse to visit with him. Normally, Squall didn't mind nor did Garden due to Laguna's tendency to pay generously. Still, he had been extremely tempted to turn his father's offer down, but Rinoa had managed to talk him out of it.

"_Squall, we've been working hard for months. We all could use a break. This party sounds like just the thing we need to unwind. And I know that everyone else will agree with me. So stop being such a meanie and let's have some fun for a change."_

Despite his better judgment, Squall discussed it with his friends and was overwhelmingly outvoted in favor of attending. Unfortunately for him, the invitations explicitly stated that all attendees arrive in costume and that the costumes follow a "fantasy" theme. Thus, Laguna had invited them to Esthar so they could go to a local costume shop to pick out their attire before they took the Ragnarok to a recently discovered set of ruins in Centra.

The party, the brainchild of a member of the Dollet Dukedom, was meant to be a way for Dollet to heighten its profile on the world stage. Important members of government and society from Galbadia, Balamb and Esthar had been invited, however, security measures turned out to be relatively low-key due to the very casual nature of the gathering.

Squall scowled and leaned against the wall. He and his team decided to wait until the Ragnarok landed just outside the ruins before putting on their costumes. Right now, he was standing in the corridor, waiting for Rinoa to come out. Soon, there was a whoosh as the doors opened.

"Ok, here I am," Rinoa said as she stepped out. "So, what do you think?"

Squall silently studied her. Rinoa was wearing a white top with long, black fingerless gloves and a short black mini-skirt. On her feet was a pair of black, chunky boots.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Rinoa smiled. "From now on, just call me Tifa."

"I'm not going to do that," Squall said, crossing his arms over his chest. "And why exactly do I have to carry this huge plastic sword around anyway? Lionheart is much more authentic looking than this."

"Yeah, but your gunblade is real and this is supposed to be a costume," Rinoa said. "Besides, I think you look kind of cute with that spiky hair."

"Whatever," Squall said. "The sword is ridiculous though. No one could wield a sword like this with any real accuracy. Not sure how this guy could have been an elite soldier."

"Well that's why they call it fantasy, Squall," Rinoa giggled. "It's not supposed to be for real."

"That's for sure," Squall mumbled. Rinoa laughed again and was about to say something else when the sound of footsteps interrupted her. Both she and Squall turned to see Selphie and Irvine approaching them, dressed in their costumes.

"Heeey, you guys look great," Selphie squealed. "Rinoa, you look just like her."

"Thanks Selphie," Rinoa said. "And your outfit looks great too."

"You like it?" Selphie said, holding out her arms and dancing in place. "I wanted to go as a princess, but didn't really want to wear a dress. Besides, I think 'Dagger' is a cool nickname."

"Yeah, but you're not the one who ended up having to wear a tail as part of your costume," Irvine sighed.

"You could have gone with something else," Squall reminded him.

"No way, despite the tail, this is perfect," Irvine said. "After all, I consider myself something of a thief: a thief of hearts, that is."

Rinoa giggled from behind her hand while Squall let his face drop into his palm. He was pretty sure that Selphie was going to pound Irvine with her nunchaku, but Zell and Quistis' arrival prevented that from happening.

"All set," Zell announced. "Let's get to the party."

"Who are you dressed as Zell?" Rinoa asked.

"Who am I?" Zell said, puffing out his chest. "Quite possibly one of the coolest characters ever. Yep, Sabin Figaro: prince, martial artist extraordinaire and one of the toughest guys in the world."

"Not to mention brash, hard-headed and possessing a voracious appetite," Quistis said with a smirk.

"So in other words, not that much different from Zell Dincht," Squall said with a smirk of his own.

"Tch, at least I'm not the one wearing a tail," Zell huffed.

"You know, there is more to this costume than the tail," Irvine sighed again. "Or have you already forgotten about the romantic thief part?"

"What about you, Quistis?" Selphie asked, ignoring Irvine. "That cape looks so cool on you."

"Thank you," Quistis said. "And tonight you can just call me General Celes. I'm just glad that I didn't need to do anything too elaborate with my hair for this."

'_Not that I should have done anything either,' _Squall thought to himself, his scowl returning. '_Rinoa better be right about this stuff washing right out. And why did I let Laguna talk me into this anyway? And for that matter where…?'_

"Ok, we're here. Everyone ready to go?"

The gang looked over to see Laguna dressed in a suit of white armor with a long white cape. Beside him, Kiros stood holding a long, plastic spear while dressed in royal blue armor with an elaborate helmet in his hands while Ward carried a giant hammer and wore goggles and a fake beard along with his outfit.

"Sir Laguna, what a great costume," Selphie beamed. "Let me guess, Cecil, right?"

"You got it," Laguna said. "Kiros agreed to be Kain."

"I'm still not wearing this helmet, Laguna," Kiros frowned. "It's hot and pinches my temples."

"Whatever man," Laguna said, rolling his eyes. "And Ward, here, is Cid."

"Cid, huh?" Quistis laughed. "Sorry, I guess whenever I hear that name, I think our headmaster. That's not much like him though."

"Come to think of it, there was a 'Cid' costume in our aisle of the store too," Rinoa said. "And it didn't look like that either."

"Must be a common name," Squall shrugged. "Anyway, let's get going. The invitation mentioned that the party officially starts in about thirty minutes and we'll need to spend a few of those getting inside and getting our passes checked. I don't want to fight a crowd at the last minute."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Laguna nodded sagely. "Politicians are usually the worst about cutting in line and stuff like that. No manners at all. It's like…like the worst of two evils."

"That's 'lesser'," Kiros interjected.

"Really?" Laguna said. "Are you sure, Kiros, 'cause it doesn't make any sense when you put it that way."

"As opposed to you never making sense no matter how you put it?" Kiros smirked.

"Man, I can't even get a break from your lame jokes on Halloween," Laguna grumbled.

"Let's go," Squall said, wanting to avoid another delay. '_So we can get this over with.'_

* * *

The ruins turned out to be what looked like a three story building with a large ornate archway indicating the entrance. Artificial lights were illuminating the structure, and yet as they walked into the place, Squall couldn't help but notice how the light seemed strangely dim, as if the walls were actually absorbing it and sealing it away. Even the shadows seemed unnaturally vivid and long against the walls which were smooth and worn with age. Above him, the ceiling was decorated with a series of strange symbols and scattered about were grotesque stone statues of what looked like a variety of demons which sat on pedestals.

"Ah welcome, President Loire. I hope you will enjoy the festivities we have planned tonight."

Squall looked up to see a tall, willowy woman with a flowing rose-colored dress and dark hair with streaks of silver walking toward them. Laguna looked over at her and smiled.

"Thank you," he said. "These are my advisors, Ministers Seagill and Zabac, and this is my son…."

"Yes, of course," the woman said, her smile carefully placid and frozen on her face. "Your name and face are known to just about everyone in the world, Commander Leonhart. Is this a personal visit or business?"

Squall didn't respond and Laguna scratched the side of his head.

"Um, I guess you could say that it's both," Laguna replied. "Esthar usually requires that I have an escort, even to a party like this. And since Squall here is one of the top SeeD in the world…."

"Yes, of course," the woman repeated. Squall began to wonder if she responded that way to most things. The woman then bowed her head slightly.

"Allow me to introduce myself," she said. "My name is Lia Sosan, Minister of Health for the Dollet Dukedom. I'm your host this evening."

"Oh, ok," Laguna said. "Say, what made you pick this place for a party anyway? Kinda spooky, don't you think?"

"I suppose it is rather…atmospheric," Sosan said with a laugh. "Quite fitting for a Halloween party. But I did have another reason and that was to expose the world to this recent discovery. Ever since archeologists found this place about four months ago, there has not been much research conducted here and I am hoping that interest will grow once people get a chance to see it for themselves."

"I see," Squall said. "The basic structure of this place reminds me of Odin's temple."

"Understandable given how both were build by the Centran people," Sosan nodded.

"Sure, that makes sense," Laguna said. "And hey, you're talking to the right people. If you're interested in Centran history, you should know that Kiros' wife is a published expert on the subject."

"Yes, I have read a couple of her books," Sosan nodded. "And you are an Eltarian, are you not? So you probably know a little something about the mythology that inspired this temple."

"Temple?" Squall said.

"Yes," Sosan said. "Although not actually part of my work within the Dollet Dukedom, I have taken a personal interest into the religious and mythological history of Centra, with a special emphasis on the occult aspects of it. My preliminary findings indicate that this temple was built by the followers of Zeromus and that it in particular was a tribute to Locius. Ah, but Minister Seagill, you seem troubled by this news, yes?"

Squall glanced over and raised his eyebrow when he saw that Kiros' expression had become stern, his jaw tight.

"The followers of Zeromus were heretics and murderers," Kiros said. "Zeromus was considered the embodiment of human hatred and cruelty within Centran and Eltarian religious beliefs. Locius was said to be a servant of Odin until he decided that strength and power also gave one the right to create chaos among 'lesser beings'. Thus, he was anointed as the 'high priest' of the cult of Zeromus and was revered by its members even after his death. Members of this cult were frequently bent on some sort of personal gain and would do anything, even perform human sacrifices, in order to curry favor with Zeromus so that they might gain power over their enemies. Eltarians were often favored as sacrificial offerings with women and children being the most frequent targets since they were considered vulnerable and their tortured cries…_pleasing to Zeromus_.

"Yes, such is the dark side of the history of this area of the world," Sosan said solemnly. "But that is all that it is now: history. However, Minister Seagill, I sense from your tone that you do not approve of any ongoing studies of these ruins. I did not realize that you were a religious man and apologize if I offended you."

"It's not that," Kiros said. "I just believe that some things are better forgotten and left in the past. Zeromus and the cult that worshipped him are among those things. Now, if you will please excuse me, Minister Sosan."

Kiros walked stiffly away and Laguna was about to follow him when Sosan moved in front of him and held up her hand.

"I would like to apologize again if I have offended your close advisor," she said.

"Thank you for that," Laguna said. "Although, honestly, I have never seen him react that way before. I didn't realize he had such strong feelings about all this."

"I also would like to compliment you on your costume, President Loire," Sosan continued. "And from what I've heard about you, the armor of the paladin suits you well. Paladins were highly valued in Centran culture as virtuous heroes who fought courageously for the people. A man like you, who saved Esthar from the rule of a cruel, tyrannical sorceress would have mostly likely been regarded as a paladin had you lived in Centra back when it was a vibrant civilization."

"Thank you," Laguna said, scratching the back of his head. "But it's no big deal. I mean, I wasn't the only one in the resistance movement. A lot of people helped me out."

"Ah, so modest too," Sosan said. "You certainly live up to your reputation, President Loire."

Laguna blushed, his hand traveling down toward his calf. He gave a slight wave and then hobbled away after Kiros. Sosan smiled again and nodded at Squall.

"Your father is truly a remarkable man," she said. "You must be proud of him."

Squall nodded to show that he was listening, but did not speak. There was nothing overtly suspicious or hostile about Sosan's behavior, but he could not shake the feeling that her words had meanings behind the obvious ones.

"Please excuse me," Squall said. "I need to confer with my associates."

"Of course," Sosan said. "I hope you enjoy the party, Commander Leonhart."

Squall nodded again and walked away, suddenly very eager to talk to anyone besides her.

* * *

Unbeknownst to Squall, Sosan watched him leave with a smile on her face, a smile of smug triumph.

'_Yes, you may not appreciate it, Commander, but your father truly is remarkable…and just the person I need to implement my plan. And you, young Leonhart, you're too rigid, too lacking in imagination to have any idea of that plan. You will never figure it out.'_

'_At the very least, not until it is far too late to stop me.' _


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Next chapter. I hope to have some more chapters of this up next week along with some more of my other fics.

I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its characters.

Thank you to everyone who is reading/following/favoriting/reviewing this...or who might do so in the future. It is always appreciated.

Chapter Two

Laguna sipped at the punch in his cup, wondering how the evening could be salvaged.

After talking to Sosan, he had spent several minutes unsuccessfully trying to find Kiros. He was about to give up when Ward said something about seeing him go toward one of the balconies. When he finally did manage to locate him, Laguna was frustrated to find Kiros stubbornly reticent. He begged him several times to tell him what was on his mind, but received only sighs and pained expressions.

"_Please forgive me, Laguna," _Kiros had eventually told him. "_It's…the cult of Zeromus is a touchy subject among my people and was especially so among my family and tribe. I simply cannot feel comfortable with attending a party in this temple. I do understand, however, why you are obligated and I will do my best to keep my reservations to myself."_

Once he had said that, Kiros refused to talk other than to turn down Laguna's offers to leave. As much as he hated seeing his closest friend brood, Laguna was aware of the signs that Kiros would not budge from his position, and this was clearly one of those times. Thus, he went back to the party and asked Ward to help him keep an eye on Kiros for the rest of the evening.

Then he went to look for Squall and his team, but other than spotting Zell by the buffet table and catching a glimpse of Selphie and Irvine dancing, Laguna found himself mostly alone in a sea of politicians and socialites. Many people approached him, and Laguna had renewed hope that they would be fun to talk to, but soon he realized that most of them were looking for a favor from him or had personal projects they needed backing for.

Eventually, he managed to extract himself from these dry, artificial conversations and spend some time with Ward, who eventually left him to go check on Kiros.

'_Sheesh, what's wrong with these people?' _he wondered as he finished the rest of his punch. '_This is supposed to be a party. Shouldn't there be…I don't know, games, ghost stories, or a spook walk? Something besides standing around trying to impress each other. Well, I hope Squall and his friends aren't too disappointed. Last I saw, they looked like they were having fun, but who knows.'_

Laguna let out a sigh and looked at the bottom of his cup. He thought about getting something to eat, but that was more out of boredom than actual hunger. Just as he was about to get himself another cup of punch, Sosan appeared at his elbow.

"What's wrong, President Loire?" she asked. "I hope that what happened earlier hasn't put a damper on your evening."

"Oh no, it's ok," Laguna said. "It's just…well, it seems like most of the people here want to talk shop and I'm not really in the mood for that."

"I see," Sosan said, nodding. "And believe me, I sympathize. I know that I often have to deal with bores in the course of my duties within the dukedom, and a man in your position is sure to have even more opportunities for that kind of tedium."

"Most the time, it's not so bad," Laguna shrugged. "But I guess I just can't equate a Halloween party with politicking."

"I think I might be able to show you something that might interest you," Sosan said with a grin. "That is, if you're will to let me take you on an official tour, Mister President."

"Oh sure," Squall said. "Just let me tell Squall where I'm going and we can…."

"No need for that," Sosan said. "We won't be leaving the building and it will only take a few minutes. I'm sure your son can spare you for that long."

"I don't know," Laguna said. "I mean, Squall is my son, but he's also my security escort for tonight. It's kind of his job to keep an eye on me."

"And I am sure that he is doing a fine job, but there is nothing to worry about," Sosan insisted. "The building has been cleared of monsters and is secure and I have guards of my own patrolling the outlying passages. So please, allow me to show you some recent discoveries I have made here at these ruins."

"Oh, ok," Laguna said. "I guess a few minutes away won't hurt. Anything to liven things up around here."

"President Loire," Sosan said, her smile growing wider. "I promise that you won't be disappointed."

* * *

Squall scanned the room around him and frowned when he realized that he couldn't find Laguna.

Once the party got underway, Squall noted that Laguna was besieged by various politicians and industrialists and decided to keep his distance so he wouldn't get pulled into what was sure to be a series of dull conversations. Meanwhile, the rest of his team alternated between doing security checks around the room and having fun eating, dancing or talking to some of the other historians and scholars who had come to see the ruins themselves. A couple of times, Rinoa managed to cajole him into dancing with her very briefly, but for the most part, Squall mainly watched the action around him.

'_At least they aren't making us play any stupid games or participate in lame Halloween-themed events,' _he thought. '_Much to Laguna's chagrin, I'm sure. If he had his way, we'd all be ghost-hunting by now.'_

Squall smirked and took a sip of his punch. Even though some of Laguna's quirks and child-like behaviors annoyed him sometimes, their relationship as father and son had grown gradually more affectionate over the last three years. Thus, Squall was often more amused by than irritated at Laguna's cheery, carefree demeanor and antics, and even though he refused to admit it out loud, he was grateful to have such a loving and caring father in his life having grown up without any parents at all.

But those increases in affection also came with an accompanying protectiveness. While Laguna was largely admired and respected in Esthar, Squall was aware that others continued to see Esthar as a threat and were eager to disrupt their stability by any means possible…which included harming their beloved president. As a result, Squall made sure to keep in regular contact with Kiros, who was in charge of Palace security and who acted as Laguna's personal bodyguard, to go over security upgrades and to consult on tactics to ensure his father's safety whenever he traveled out of Esthar.

While this party seemed to be low-risk in terms of security, Squall wasn't comfortable with his father wandering around the ruins unattended. After looking for him again and not seeing him, he began to walk around the room and as the other attendees and members of his team if they had seen Laguna. Unfortunately, none of them seemed to know where he was either. It was then that Squall noticed that Minister Sosan was also missing.

'_Maybe she decided to show Laguna around the ruins or something,' _he mused. '_She did seem very determined to get his attention.'_

Squall frowned again. He had seen firsthand how Laguna seemed to attract people, as friends, allies or even occasionally as potential lovers, so he wasn't particularly surprised at Sosan's interest in him. Still, something about her carefully crafted persona bothered Squall, and he found that he didn't like the idea of his father spending time alone with her. He decided to continue to search just to make sure that nothing untoward was going on.

He left the main party area and was about to choose a side corridor to go down when a pair of familiar voices caught his attention.

"They sure have a lot of great food at this party, ya know. I can't get enough of it, ya know."

"GLUTTON. FOCUS."

"Geez, take it easy, ya know. I'm making sure everything's ok. Hey um, you don't think that there are any ghosts here, do you? 'Cause, I don't want to run into any spooks, ya know."

"WIMP!"

There was the sound of a boot kicking against flesh and the cry of pain immediately afterward told Squall that the boot had hit its target. He walked around the corner and was not surprised to see Fujin and Raijin standing there.

What surprised him was the fact that they were wearing costumes.

Raijin had his hair spiked up to a point that curled at the end and was wearing baggy yellow pants that were connected to his top with suspenders, sandals and a giant blue headband. Fuijin wore a long sleeved black dress with the skirt being made up of a bunch of criss-crossing leather belts along with dark lipstick and a necklace with purple beads. Raijin was tossing a blue and white ball back and forth in his hands while Fujin was holding a small stuffed Moogle doll in one hand.

"Hey, it's Squall, ya know," Raijin said. "Didn't think you'd be here, ya know."

"INVITED?"

Squall crossed his arms over his chest. If Raijin and Fujin were here, he knew that it was highly likely that another familiar face was here, one he wasn't all that eager to see.

"Well, what do you know? Even Puberty Boy decided to celebrate Halloween."

Squall scowled and turned to see Seifer walking up behind him in his usual attire, a grin on his face.

"Nice costume," Seifer sniggered. "Did you come up with that hairstyle on your own or did you actually let someone do that to you?"

"What are you doing here, Seifer?" Squall said, his scowl deepening.

"What else? Working," Seifer said as he spread his arms out. "A couple of businessmen from Dollet were freaked out by the location for this shindig, so they hired us to keep an eye on things."

Squall nodded slightly. About a year ago, almost all of the major world governments, except for Galbadia, had dismissed the charges against Seifer. They had come to the conclusion that he had ultimately been a pawn of Ultimecia and that tracking him down and prosecuting him was more trouble than it was worth. As a result, Seifer and his gang were able to move more freely throughout the world provided that they continued to steer clear of Galbadia.

"What about you?" Seifer smirked. "Schmoozing with politicians doesn't seem like your kind of thing. Did Cid make you come?"

"I don't take orders from him anymore," Squall replied. "Laguna hired us to come with him."

"Ah, so Daddy Dearest wanted to play dress up with you," Seifer chortled. "You know, I saw his latest 'State of Esthar' address on TV, including the part where he had a bunch of people join in on that dumb Chocobo Dance song. I still can't believe that the two of you are related."

'_Neither can I at times,' _Squall said to himself as he remembered the broadcast in question. Then he remembered why he had left the main area and turned his attention back toward Seifer and his group.

"Have any of you seen Laguna recently?" he asked.

"Nope," Seifer said before glancing back at Fujin and Raijin. "How about you two?"

"NEGATIVE."

"Yeah, we haven't seen him, ya know," Raijin chimed in.

"Fine," Squall nodded. "I'm going to go find him. Seifer, you and your team better stay out of Garden's way…or else."

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Seifer said. "And hey, if we see Loire, we'll be sure to let him know that you're looking for him. Shouldn't be too hard for him to spot you with you carrying around that ridiculous plastic sword and all."

"Where's your costume?" Squall asked.

"I decided to go as the infamous and incredibly talented renegade knight, Seifer Almasy," Seifer answered with a flourish of his hand. "How's that for a costume?"

"Whatever," Squall said. "Just remember what I said."

Seifer harrumphed and Squall turned to walk away. Squall wasn't too concerned with Seifer's presence at the party, feeling that his old rival was probably not interested in picking a fight with him.

But for some reason he sensed that this was a sign that things were about to get a lot more complicated.

* * *

"Man, this place is really creepy," Laguna said. "How much further is it?"

"Not much," Sosan assured him. "We're almost there."

Laguna nodded and continued to eye the corridors around him. They had spent several minutes now weaving their way through a long maze of passageways and by this point, he was confident that he would never be able to find his way back without Sosan's help.

'_I hope she actually does know the way back,' _he thought. '_I mean, she's studied this place. She probably does. But…maybe this wasn't such a good idea.'_

Sosan walked quietly in front of him, the light from her torch illuminating the way. Laguna had to work hard to dodge all the spider webs that were draped along the edges of some of the passages because he knew that he would completely freak out if he got caught up in one of them.

A couple moments later, the corridor opened up into a large room with pillars with elaborate carvings and a large stone altar in the center.

"Impressive, isn't it?" Sosan said as she walked into the room. "From what I've been able to gather, this was the main worship hall of the temple. The followers of Zeromus would gather here and ask Locius for guidance."

"Yeah, but…they did a lot of terrible things here too, right?" Laguna said, rubbing the back of his head. "Kiros mentioned something about sacrifices. Is that altar…well did they…?"

"Quite right, President Loire," she said. "It is more than likely that they did use this altar for sacrificial purposes. It may be morbid, but I do think that this temple is a fascinating find from an archeological perspective."

"I don't know," Laguna said. "I'm thinking that Kiros was right about how some things are better left buried."

Sosan laughed and Laguna felt uneasy at how cold her laughter was.

"My dear President Loire, how can you say that?" she said. "The worship of Zeromus was the natural result of the enlightened members of the Centran civilization making the decision to not leave the future up to fate. The only way any society can truly grow is if it's willing to shed all that is weak and useless about it. That was the endgame of Zeromus' followers."

"I think we should go back," Laguna said, not wanting to continue this conversation. Sosan turned toward him and smiled.

"I'm afraid that I cannot let you go," she said. "I've waited too long for this opportunity."

Laguna frowned and backed away, but before he could walk out of the room, Sosan waved her hand in front of her. He immediately felt drowsy and realized that she had cast a Sleep spell on him.

"What…what are you…?" he slurred out. Then he collapsed onto the floor, unconscious. Sosan laughed again and stared at Laguna's inert form.

'_Wonderful. Everything is going exactly as it should,' _she thought. '_And now it is time for the next stage of my plan: to help Locius awaken by helping him possess a person here at this party.'_

'_And I know just who to choose….'_

* * *

Ward Zabac sighed and walked toward the balcony with a pair of cups in his hands.

He had heard from Laguna earlier about how Kiros was uncomfortable with this party. He knew that Laguna felt the same way, given how empathetic they all were in regards to each other's emotional states.

Still, Ward tried to encourage Laguna to make the most of the evening, and after seeing him go off with Sosan, he figured his friend had gone along with that idea. After that, Ward tried to get into the spirit of the party, but found himself still worrying about his friends.

He decided to quell some of that by checking up on Kiros. Even though he knew that Kiros was not in the best mood, Ward also knew that often all his friend needed was someone to talk to him while he worked to lift his spirits. Thus, he decided to get him one of his favorite drinks from the bar and maybe even challenge Kiros to a card game.

When he arrived on the balcony, he saw Kiros in the same spot he was the last time he saw him, but this time Kiros was slumped against the railing and had his hands over his face. Ward frowned and sat the drinks down on a small stand just outside the balcony and walked over to him. He stood beside Kiros and put his hand on his shoulder. Kiros looked up at him with bleary, oddly vacant eyes.

"_Kiros, are you all right?" _he communicated silently. "_What's wrong?"_

"I…I don't know," Kiros said. "I feel so…strange. I…."

Kiros shook his head as if to clear it and then let out a moan as he dropped down onto one knee and covered his face again with his hands. Ward crouched down beside him and tried to ask him again what was wrong, but got no answer.

'_Something's wrong,' _Ward thought. '_I better go find Laguna.'_

Ward looked over at Kiros again and was about to tell him where he was going when Kiros suddenly looked up at him with a strange grin on his face. Ward felt a shiver go through him when he saw that Kiros' eyes had a fiery red glow and that his teeth seemed more pointed than usual.

"_Kiros…?"_

"Wrong," Kiros said in a voice that was not his own. "So very wrong. As I awaken so shall that one continue to fade."

Ward started to ask Kiros what was going on, but before he could move, Kiros delivered a swift kick to Ward's legs, unbalancing him and causing him to fall onto his back. Kiros then drew his katal and pointed them at Ward's chest.

"Yours will be the first blood I shall spill tonight," he intoned. "But do not worry, you shall have company very soon. Many will be joining you in the embrace of death."

Ward tried reaching up and punching Kiros in the stomach, but it had no effect. Instead, Kiros laughed and lunged down with his katal, piercing Ward's flesh. Ward let out a silent gasp and then fell unconscious. Kiros then laughed again and grinned at the blood dripping down one of the blades.

'_Yes, this js just the beginning. Soon, I, Locius will be in power again. And once I am fully awakened, I shall be able to call upon Zeromus to extract my revenge on this world.'_


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Next chapter. This one is going a little slower than I would like, but I hope to pick up the pace in the next week or two.

I do not own Final Fantasy VIII or any of its characters.

Thank you to everyone who is reading/following/favoriting/reviewing this. It is always appreciated. :)

Chapter Three

Squall walked back into the main hall of the temple and immediately sensed that there was something wrong.

After several minutes of searching for Laguna with no success, he decided that it would be prudent to go back to the party to see if Sosan and Laguna had returned, and if they hadn't, to gather his team and organize a more comprehensive search of the temple.

As he strode back into the hall, he overheard some of the other attendees talk about how they hadn't seen Sosan for a while and that they couldn't find the entrance that they had used to get into this place. He was thinking about asking some of them what they meant when they said that they couldn't find it when he saw Rinoa dashing over to him.

"Squall, something's happened!" she said. "Ward's been hurt!"

"Ward?" Squall echoed. "Is he all right? Does he know who did it?"

"He's alive," Rinoa said. "And as for who did it…Squall he said that…."

"Squall!"

Squall and Rinoa turned to see Selphie and Irvine rushing over to them.

"Squall, do you know where Sir Laguna is?" Selphie asked.

"No," Squall said, immediately tense. "I was just looking for him."

"Oh no," Selphie said clasping her hands together. "We need to find him."

"Yeah, Ward acted like he could be in real danger," Irvine said. "We've asked everyone here and no one's seen him for almost an hour."

"And that's not all," Selphie continued. "Something really weird is going on. All the guards that were supposed to be watching the entrance…they're all gone. Poof! Just like that."

"Irvine, you said that Laguna in particular could be in danger," Squall said. "Why does Ward think that? What is going on?"

Irvine opened his mouth to answer when a cold, lilting laugh filled the hall. All the people looked around, trying to figure out where it was coming from. Eventually, they looked up to see Sosan standing on a small balcony above them.

"I promised all of you an enjoyable Halloween party and now it is time to give you the frights you have all been waiting for," she said. "The temple has been sealed and only I have the keys to activate the doors to reopen it. There is no escape. And should you think about trying to track me down and forcing me to give you the keys, you should know that I have activated a series of traps in the corridors as well as releasing a horde of monsters that I had been keeping incarcerated. Mind you, they won't go out into this main hall due to the protection fields I set up, but I can't guarantee your safety if you leave this area."

Gasps and angry retorts rose up from the crowd, but Sosan continued to have a calm, yet contemptuous expression on her face.

"If you simply stay put and do not try to interfere, there is a chance you may survive this night," she said. "Not that many of you deserve to. So enjoy the rest of the party. After all, I did promise you an evening to remember."

Sosan laughed again and turned to leave through the corridor behind her. People all around Squall and his friends talked excitedly, but no one really moved from where they were. Given the situation, Squall was glad that they were reacting that way.

"I need to talk to Ward," he said as he turned back to Irvine and Selphie.

"No problem," Irvine said. "Turns out he wasn't hurt too badly. Quistis and Zell are with him right now."

* * *

Laguna blinked his eyes several times before he finally decided that he was awake after all.

He wasn't sure how long he had been out, but it didn't take long for him to remember why he had fallen unconscious in the first place.

'_Sosan! Where is she? What's going on? Why did she knock me out?'_

'_And…why can't I move?'_

Laguna groaned and eventually managed to reach up and rub his head, his temples throbbing. He mustered all his strength to sit up and looked down to see that he was lying in the middle of some kind of strange symbol drawn on the floor. The lines of the design glowed and their light grew more vivid whenever he tried to move.

'_What is this thing? It's like a big spider web. Man, I hate spiders. I gotta get out of here.'_

Laguna tried to stand up, but could only get to his knees before the force emanating from the symbol yanked him back down again. He continued to struggle to get to his feet, but soon ended up exhausting himself.

'_Whatever this is, it's got me. I just hope that it's not really a spider web. I don't even want to think about the spider who could have made this.'_

Laguna stopped moving and studied the area around him. He was still in the room with the altar, and as he remembered the conversation he had had with Sosan, he grew increasingly nervous about whatever it was that she had planned.

'_I'm sure Squall has noticed that I'm not around by now. Ward and Kiros too for that matter. They'll be looking for me and they'll find a way to free me from this thing. I just know it.'_

Laguna heard the rustle of leathery wings in the background and he shivered. While he liked the idea of ghost stories and haunted houses, he really did not like the idea of facing stuff like that by himself.

Moments later, his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of footsteps moving toward him. Laguna peered down the corridor in front of him, but couldn't make out anything in the black void.

"Who's there?" he asked. "Minister Sosan? Squall?"

A figure emerged from the darkness and Laguna let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was Kiros.

"Kiros!" he grinned. "Man, I'm glad to see you. Hey, help me off of this thing, will ya? It's got me stuck to the floor."

Kiros laughed, and Laguna blinked at the icy, derisive sound. Kiros moved closer and Laguna shivered when he saw that his eyes had an unnatural red glow to them.

"Tsk, tsk," Kiros said, waving a finger at him. "It will do you no good to beg. Not that I mind hearing you do so, but you should know that it will not help you out of the trap you are in…nor will it delay the inevitable."

"Kiros?" Laguna said confused and now more than a little frightened by the way his best friend was acting. "What's going on?"

Kiros laughed again and moved even closer. He studied Laguna for a moment silently as if he were a specimen in a laboratory.

"Yes, I can see why she chose you," he finally said. "You have a purity of heart and mind that are rare among men of this time. It's what draws people to you…including this one whose body I have taken. Even now as he is dissolving into nothingness, I can sense his loyalty, his devotion to you. It rises from within when these eyes look at you."

"Who are you?" Laguna asked. Kiros smiled and Laguna shuddered when he thought he saw fangs glistening in his mouth.

"I am Locius," he said. "I have returned from my long slumber to reclaim my rightful place in Zeromus' court."

"Locius?" Laguna echoed. "But I thought he died a long time ago."

"The death of my body is but a trifle to one as powerful as I," Locius said with a wave of his hand. "As you can see, I can easily take over another body. I must admit, I was initially displeased that Sosan chose an Eltarian as my vessel, but I have come to realize that this one is powerful. Yes, he must have been a prince among the warriors of his people. And I sense that you had no idea just how noble his bloodline was. What a fool you are."

"You're wrong," Laguna retorted, narrowing his eyes. "I might not know everything about his lineage, but I know Kiros and how strong he is. And I know that someone like you will never be able to defeat him."

"Pathetic," Locius scoffed. "Clinging to false hope will accomplish nothing. The Eltarian has already lost. He is but a shadow now and soon even that will disappear into the void."

"Kiros, please," Laguna pleaded. "I know you're still in there. You've got to fight this guy. You can't let him beat you."

"How useless," Locius sighed. "You should be more worried about what lies ahead for you rather than wasting your energy on such maudlin sentiments."

"Come on, Kiros," Laguna said. "I'm right here with you."

Locius was about to say something else, but instead he stumbled forward and screwed his eyes shut, clutching his hands tightly against his temples. He fell to his knees right in front of Laguna. He covered his eyes with his palms and Laguna leaned closer to him.

"Kiros?" he said, hesitant. Kiros lowered his hands and Laguna let out a breath he hadn't realized he had been holding when he saw his eyes open and that they were back to their normal chocolate hue.

"L-Laguna?" Kiros stuttered. Laguna let out a sigh of relief and reached over to touch his arm.

"It's me, Kiros," Laguna said. "Are you all right? What happened?" Kiros moved a trembling hand up to grasp one of his.

"H-help," he gasped. "C-can't…stop…him…."

"Yes you can," Laguna insisted. "You've got to keep fighting him. Don't let him win."

Kiros groaned and closed his eyes again, his head drooping down. Laguna clasped Kiros' arm.

"Kiros?" he said. "Can you hear me?"

Kiros let out a low chuckle and Laguna's blood froze as he realized that that was not his friend laughing. Then Kiros lifted his head and opened his eyes again, the red glow having returned.

"Fool," Locius spat. He pulled his arm away from Laguna's grasp and backhanded him across the face, causing Laguna to fall back onto his behind. Locius stood up and glared at him.

"I've had enough of your babbling," he said. "One more word from you and I will cut your tongue out."

Laguna sat up and rubbed his jaw where Locius had hit him. He tried again to get up, but continued to be held in place by the symbol on the floor.

"Let him go," Laguna replied, clenching his hands into fists. "Or I will…."

Locius snarled and pulled out one of the katal Kiros wore out of its sheaths and grabbed Laguna by the hair. He yanked his hair to pull his head up, exposing his throat, and then pressed the edge of the blade against his neck.

"You'll do nothing but sit there and be quiet," Locius said. "You may be ideal for my plans, but you are not indispensible. Push me too far and I will make your death far more painful than it already will be. Do you understand?"

Laguna glowered at him, but silently nodded his head. Locius let him go and roughly pushed him against the floor. He put the katal away and massaged his temples for a moment before turning to leave.

"I must see what is keeping Sosan," he said. "Remember what I said. While I am gone, you should prepare yourself for what is to come."

Locius walked out of the room, and Laguna lowered his head, tears stinging his eyes.

'_Kiros…where are you? Are you still in there or did Locius…?'_

Laguna shivered and swiped at his eyes. He refused to believe that his best friend would give up so easily and was determined to find some way to help him.

For now though, Laguna was aware that he needed to find some way to help himself out of the situation he was currently in.

* * *

Squall crouched on the floor in front of a large sofa in one of the back corners of the main hall as he listened to Ward's story.

Zell had found Ward, bleeding and unconscious earlier and had made sure to alert the others without setting off any kind of alarm with the other guests. Fortunately, the wound to Ward's shoulder turned out to be shallow and had missed any vital organs or blood vessels, so it was easy for Rinoa to heal him. Quistis took the precaution of bandaging the area after the young sorceress had worked her curative magic. After he had regained consciousness, he told the team what had happened which prompted Rinoa, Selphie and Irvine to go look for both Squall and Laguna.

Ward leaned back on the sofa, still somewhat woozy from blood loss and typed his comments to Squall and the others on a small touchpad he used whenever Laguna and Kiros weren't around to speak for him.

"_Then he stabbed me and knocked me out with his other katal," _Ward said as he wrapped up his story. "_I didn't see where he went after that."_

"Wonder why he went crazy like that," Zell said, scratching his head. "Kiros never seemed like the type of guy who would crack up."

"_It may have been Kiros' body, but it wasn't him," _Ward insisted.

"Wait, I thought you said it was Kiros," Selphie said.

"_It was…and yet it wasn't," _Ward replied. "_It may have been his body, but the person who stabbed me was __not__ Kiros Seagill. I'm sure of it. It's as if something else, something evil was controlling him."_

"Whatever it was, I'm thinking that Sosan is probably the one behind this," Squall nodded as he stood back up. "Getting control of Kiros must have been part of her plan. But why?"

"_I don't know what she's planning," _Ward said. "_But I'm betting that it has something to do with Laguna. You said he was missing, and now this thing with Kiros….Squall, I meant what I said about Laguna being in danger. If Kiros really is being controlled by Sosan, then there's no telling what he might do to him. And Laguna…he won't even see it coming because he trusts Kiros implicitly.'_

"I understand," Squall said grimly. "We need to find both of them as soon as possible."

"That's not all we need to do."

Everyone turned to see Seifer, Fujin and Raijin walking toward him. Zell and Quistis immediately assumed combat stances, but Squall held out an arm to stop them from acting.

"What do you want, Seifer?" he said.

"Aw… and here I was trying to be helpful," Seifer said with a dramatic shrug. "Seeing as we're all trapped here thanks to some psychotic witch."

"DISTURBING." Fujin interjected.

"Yeah, we don't want to be stuck in here with a bunch of ghosts, ya know?" Raijin said.

"So how about we team up and try to find some way out of this place?" Seifer said. "Granted, we don't really need your help all that much…but working with you guys might make things go a little faster and I, for one, have had enough of this party."

"Squall? You aren't actually going to take him up on that are you?" Zell said, incredulous. "He just wants to get out of here so he can get paid and split."

"Zell, let me handle this," Squall said. "Seifer, it's not that simple. Laguna and Kiros are missing and it's our responsibility to find them and get them to safety."

"Yeah, plus there's all those other people here too," Selphie said, pointing at him. "We can't just leave them here for the monsters."

"Who says we can't?" Seifer replied. "They're not paying my salary. Besides, this job isn't worth sticking my neck out for."

"Maybe not," Squall said. "But you know perfectly well that if it weren't for Laguna, there would probably be a lot more warrants out for your arrest right now than there currently are. All those other countries decided to let bygones be bygones largely because Esthar was willing to do so first. You owe him…and me."

Seifer frowned at him, and Squall scowled right back. The two of them stared at each other silently for a long moment before Seifer let out a sigh and shrugged again.

"All right, fine," he said. "We'll help you look for Loire too. So is it a deal?"

"It is," Squall said. "For now. But I'm going to be the one running things here, Seifer. Keep that in mind."

"Oh sure, _Commander_," Seifer chuckled with a mock salute. "I figured as much."

"Good," Squall nodded. "Now, this is what we're going to do: Quistis, Zell, you stay here with Ward and the other guests. Try to keep them as calm as possible and make sure none of them try to leave. And Zell, try and see if you can get past the locks Sosan has on the door."

"I'm on it," Zell said, punching his fists into the air in front of his body.

"Seifer, you and your group see if you can find another exit," Squall said. "We might need to use an alternate route to escape if we can't get the main entrance open. And make sure to keep an eye out for Laguna. Understand?"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it," Seifer said.

"Selphie, Irvine, you two will start looking for Laguna and Kiros," Squall continued. "Rinoa and I will do the same. All of us will meet back here in three hours."

"Gotcha," Selphie said. "And we'll be sure to get rid of any monsters we find along the way."

"All right," Squall said. "You all know what to do. Let's get going."

Everyone nodded and Seifer, Fujin and Raijin took off down one of the side corridors while Selphie and Irvine went down the main hallway. Quistis and Zell went back into the crowd and Squall was about to leave with Rinoa when Ward reached out to grab his arm.

"_Squall," _he said. "_I don't know what has happened to Kiros, but believe me when I say that whatever it is, it's not his fault."_

"I believe you," Squall said. "But from what you've told me, it sounds like Kiros' body has been taken over by some kind of dark magic. We may have no choice but to…."

"_No!" _Ward insisted. "_His body is being manipulated by something, but a part of Kiros is still in control."_

"How can you be so sure?" Squall asked him.

"_Because if Kiros were really gone, I wouldn't be alive right now," _Ward answered. "_Squall, whatever it was used Kiros' skill in combat to take me down. I've fought with him long enough to recognize that. By all rights I should be dead because there was no way that Kiros would have missed if he were trying to kill me. Instead, he knocked me out and made sure to give me only a minor injury. There's no way this…thing would have left it at that if Kiros weren't interfering somehow. He's still in there, somewhere. And I'm begging you for my sake and for Laguna's…please don't kill him."_

"All right," Squall said. "I promise that I will do what I can to spare him. But I can't guarantee that…."

"_I know," _Ward said, his eyes filled with sadness. "_And I'll understand if you're forced to defend yourself. I…I just pray that it won't come to that."_

Squall nodded and walked away with Rinoa beside him. Even though he didn't say it out loud, he also hoped that he wouldn't have to make that kind of choice either.

* * *

_Endnote_: _The reference to Laguna hating spiders was inspired by **Bebedora**'s fic...although I also could totally see Laguna freaking out over them as well. ;)_


End file.
